Apparently, this is a major victory of the patent system. This, this right here, this is what the patent system has come to. This is the destructive effect it's having on this once beautiful industry. Thanks to trolls like Apple and Microsoft, basic, elemental functionality is being removed from devices people already own.

Apple is reduced to patent trolling. It files frivolous/obvious patents under a very permissible patent regime. It can hardly be called a manufacturer, at least, not in the same sense as Samsung. It outsources all of its manufacturing to third party manufacturers. Though some of its employees are engaged in software and design work, majority of them are engaged in marketing and retailing. Therefore, it is predominantly a marketing and retailing company whose overpriced products sell only because of the mythical snob value attached to them (created by decades of relentless hyperbolic chants by its in-numerous irrational fans).

When a company starts to sue others to retain market share it is a sure sign that the company has gone past its peak. Apple is a big company with a large fan base, so it would take longer than others to go downhill, but its current behaviour is an indicator of its future.